American Water Works, a publicly traded U.S. water and wastewater utility company, has named Melissa Wikle as controller, effective July 19. She will lead American Water’s corporate accounting, external financial reporting, SEC compliance, tax, payroll and accounts payable functions.

Wikle has almost 30 years of finance and accounting experience and currently serves as corporate controller and chief accounting officer at Columbus McKinnon, a global manufacturer of a broad line of material handling products. Previously, Wikle served as vice president of SEC reporting at insurance company MetLife, and at Pacific Gas & Electric Company for more than ten years holding a variety of financial and accounting positions including director of regulatory relations.